


but then i wrote this song

by littlesaintmick



Category: Professional Wrestling, World Wrestling Entertainment
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Slice of Life, au-growing up together, dean and roman are bestest friends, everyone needs something nice and cute to read right now, lmao the explicit rating is for much later in the story
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-04
Updated: 2020-11-04
Packaged: 2021-03-08 17:29:06
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,218
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27380464
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/littlesaintmick/pseuds/littlesaintmick
Summary: roman meets his new neighbor down the street.
Relationships: Dean Ambrose | Jon Moxley/Roman Reigns
Comments: 18
Kudos: 27





	but then i wrote this song

Roman looked up at his mom, watching her hands as she put various foods in different bowls. 

“Mama, what’s that for? Are you goin’ somewhere?”

She looked down at him and smiled, and Roman grabbed the edge of the counter and stood on his tip-toes to try and see more of what she’d made. 

“Yes. We have new neighbors and-they may need a little help with food until they really get settled. There’s a boy that’s about your age, if you’d like to come with me and meet them.”

Roman reached out and tried to grab a piece of garlic bread. Roman’s mom grabbed his hand and gently moved it away. He pouted and looked up at her. 

“If I go with you, can I have some bread?”

“Yes, but you have to let them eat first.”

Roman nodded and once he put his shoes on and brushed his hair, he was given the very important task of carrying the pan of garlic bread to the car. He was very proud to be trusted with such a special item, and he let his mom buckle him in-it was hard to do things like that, and he didn’t know why, but he was supposed to practice small tasks with his hands during the weekends. Seeing as to how it was Friday, he wouldn’t have to do that until tomorrow. Probably after his math homework. But he liked math homework, so he figured he’d be in a good mood for it.

He didn’t realize until the car stopped that they’d driven just down the street; the new family must have moved into the empty house on the corner. Roman and his cousins had played around it before, Jimmy and Jey sometimes daring him to go into the backyard, but he never did. Not because it was scary, he just didn’t like to be told what to do. Roman waited for his mom to unbuckle his seatbelt and then he got out, grabbing the pan of garlic bread, following his mom up to the woman who was planting something in the garden. She had very long, red hair, and was very pretty. She stood up and smiled and pulled gloves off of her hand, coming up to them. 

“Hey, Pen-how are you? I’m sorry-this took a while longer than I thought it would-”

“No, it’s no problem-we brought you and the twins some dinner-”

“Oh-you didn’t have to, I’ll pay you-”

“No, ma’am, no you won’t. This is just being a good neighbor.”

The red-haired lady’s cheeks turned pink and she looked a little embarrassed. 

“Thank you. We-I haven’t gotten my paycheck yet, and-we could use good neighbors. Hopefully I can do the same for you when you need it.”

The woman looked at Roman and smiled, waving at him. 

“Hi.”

Roman blinked. 

“Amorette, this is my son, Roman. Roman, this is Amorette Ambrose.”

“Hello, Miss Ambrose.”

“You can call me Amorette, if you’d like.”

Roman nodded and was tired of holding the pan. Miss Ambrose-Roman was still going to call her that-called out for some people named Dean and Cora Beth, and Roman watched as two kids came from the open front door, running to stand-well, the girl stood beside her, but the boy stood behind her, holding onto her jeans. 

“Pen, Roman, this is my son, Dean, and my daughter, Cora Beth.”

Cora Beth waved and smiled, and Dean made a small wave, but still hid behind his mother. 

“Is there anything else to bring in?”

“Yes, there’s two more bowls-”

“We’ll get those, thank you again-”

Roman followed his mother into the house, listening as Miss Ambrose and Dean and Cora Beth got the rest of the food out of the car, and Roman stood in the kitchen and watched as his mom and Miss Ambrose got things ready and got plates and forks, and Roman was surprised when they went to the living room instead of a dining room table. His family usually ate dinner together, instead of in front of the tv-they only did that on very special occasions, like to watch his Dad-and he had a hard time getting entirely comfortable on the couch. But the food was good and Cora Beth seemed nice, even if Dean didn’t talk much. He did seem to like the food Roman’s mom made. And Miss Ambrose was nice. She asked Roman questions here and there, about school and what he liked to do, how old he was. He answered all of the questions and ate his garlic bread. Cora Beth talked to him, too, but Dean didn’t. She even gave him her piece of bread because she doesn’t like garlic-which Roman didn’t understand how anyone couldn’t like it, but it meant he got an extra piece of bread, so. 

It was fun, if a little weird. Miss Ambrose and Cora Beth were very nice and Roman couldn’t tell if Dean was nice because he didn’t say anything, apart from a quiet ‘thank you’ to Roman’s mom. Miss Ambrose thanked his mom, too, and turned to her children. 

“Why don’t you two go show Roman around the house while I get all this cleaned up?”

“I’ll help-”

“No, no-the most help I’ll accept is conversation.”

Roman’s mom laughed. 

“I can do that.”

She looked at Roman and he wiped the back of his hand over his mouth.

“Could you go with Dean and Cora Beth for a little while?”

“Yes.”

“I know you’ll behave?”

“Yes, Mama.”

Cora Beth came over and grabbed his hand, leading him and Dean confidently. 

“Come on. I can show you the bathroom and then our rooms-cause you already seen the living room and kitchen-”

Dean kept his head down and chewed on the sleeve of his shirt. Roman followed Cora Beth while she showed him the bathroom, and mentioned that their last house didn’t have a bathtub and the water always came out yellow, and Roman knew he made a face at that. 

“How old are you?”

“I’m seven and Dean is eight, but Dean is gonna be nine soon.”

Roman nodded. 

“I’m nine.”

“My room is over here, and Dean’s room is up there.”

Cora Beth led them first to her door, and she allowed Roman to step in her room and look around-it was somewhat bare, but she had a lot of blankets and pillows on her bed, more than what Roman had ever seen. Her bed was also just on the ground. Roman thought that was weird. They stepped out and Roman looked to where Cora Beth had pointed; there was a ladder-slash-steps contraption leading up to what Roman would have assumed was an attic-he wasn’t allowed in the one at his house, and was hesitant to go up to this one. Cora Beth nudged Dean. 

“Go up, you always wanna go first.”

Dean did so silently, Cora Beth tugging on Roman’s hand and encouraging him to follow. He was still hesitant, but the two siblings sure didn’t seem afraid, nor up to something. Roman climbed up, Cora Beth behind him, and he looked around the room when he got up there. It was bigger than he’d thought it would be, and felt...comfortable. The walls were dark and there was a big, triangle-shaped window at the front and back of the room, looking out over the yards. There was a bed in one corner with bookshelves around it, and Dean stood awkwardly against the wall. 

“I’m gonna go see if we have cookies.”

Cora Beth went back down, and Roman stood across from Dean, still looking around the room-until he spotted something on the bed. He went over and grabbed it, his eyes widening. He turned to Dean, who was still nervously chewing his sleeve. 

“Do you like wrestling?”

Dean stopped chewing as furiously. 

“Y-yeah. I got that for my birthday.”

It was a Bret Hart action figure, and-apart from his dad-Bret Hart was Roman’s most favorite wrestler. 

“Is he your favorite?”

Dean nodded and came over to stand next to Roman. 

“Yeah, I really like him-I like his music and glasses and he wrestles real good-”

“I got to meet him once.”

Dean’s eyes got huge-they were blue. Huh. Roman hadn’t noticed before.

“Really?”

Roman nodded and sat down, handing the figure to Dean, who sat down too. 

“My dad works for the WWF, and he took me to a few of the big shows-and I got to meet a bunch of people. It was really cool. Bret was nice and let me try on his glasses.”

“Your dad works there?”

Dean was playing with the figure a little and Roman tilted his head.

“He was a wrestler, but now he works-um-I guess he kinda coaches people. His name is Sika and him and uncle Afa were a team.”

“The Samoans?”

“Yeah!”   
Dean still had that awed look in his eyes, and he leaned forward, closer to Roman. 

“That’s so cool. I never met any wrestlers, or got-I never been to a show.”

Roman saved that information in his head. 

“Do you wanna meet my dad and uncle when they’re home? And my cousins would be coming back too, and they’re still working but they come back once or twice.”

“Are they wrestlers too?”

“Two of ‘em are the-Headshrinkers, and then Yokozuna is my other cousin.”

That got an audible gasp from Dean. 

“Your cousin is the champion?”

Roman nodded his head really enthusiastically. His family was proud of his cousin. Dean brought his sleeve up to his mouth and chewed on it a little. 

“Is-is he nice?”

“Yeah! He’s real nice when he’s not wrestling.”

Roman looked over to the opening on the floor when he heard his mom call his name. He looked back to Dean and the figure in his hand, and smiled. 

“Do you wanna come over and watch wrestling sometime?”

Dean nodded. He still looked shy about the idea, but his eyes were bright and Roman felt good, knowing they had something in common.

“That sounds fun.”

They went back down the ladder-slash-steps and found their moms, who were in the kitchen, and they handed the two boys two cookies each. Cora Beth was already eating hers, and Roman thanked Miss Ambrose. They went home soon after, Roman saying goodbye to Miss Ambrose and Cora Beth and Dean, and he told his mom about asking Dean to come over. 

“That’s nice that you two both love wrestling. Did you tell him about your dad and cousins?”

“And uncle Afa, too. Me and him both like Bret Hart.”

“Really?”

“He has a Bret Hart figure and I told him about when I met Bret and he’s never got to meet wrestlers before, so I want him to meet Dad and everyone.”

“That’s sweet of you, Roman.”

Roman didn’t really think it was, he was just happy to have someone who liked wrestling. 

\---

Roman turned from playing with Jimmy and Jey at the sound of crying. 

“-I bet your family is too poor to even eat, is that why you and your brother look like you’re four?”

Cora Beth was sniffling and trying to walk away from a group of three older boys who kept pushing her and trying to trip her, and Roman frowned, making his way over-but not as quickly as Dean did. The boy flew at the three others, knocking one down through sheer force, before punching another one and then the other, trying to fight all three at once. Roman stopped and watched for a minute, as Dean fought them off. It wasn’t too long before he and his cousins ran over too, especially when one of the older boys had shoved Dean to the ground; Roman and his family didn’t believe in bullying. Two teachers had run up at the same time, though, and broken them up before Roman and his cousins could. Jimmy and Jey went to Cora Beth, and Roman stood a few feet behind Dean while one of the teachers grabbed his shoulder. They weren’t scolding the three older boys. Roman frowned. 

“-and you know fighting isn’t ever the solution! You’re going to have to see the principal-”

“Hey!”

Roman grabbed Dean’s hand and pulled him to him, away from the teacher, who had begun to take him towards the school building. Roman stood in front of Dean, his arms crossed over his chest. 

“Why are you yelling at Dean? He didn’t do anything wrong.”

“He was fighting, Roman.”   
“Only cause those three were pushing Cora Beth around. I know you saw them, why aren’t you punishing them?”

“Because fighting isn’t the answer to that.”

“You didn’t come help when I told you they were pickin’ on Cora!”

Dean sounded angry, in his little voice, from where he was standing behind Roman. The teacher looked frustrated and her face was red. Roman could hear Jimmy and Jey talking to Cora Beth. He kept staring at the teacher. 

“Dean shouldn’t get in trouble. He was trying to help his sister.”

“Well, if you’re so intent on making that point, maybe you can make that point to the principal.”

Part of Roman didn’t want to get in trouble-he knew he might get whooped for it at home-but he was going to stick to what he said. The teacher was being stupid and wrong and he was going to make sure Dean at least didn’t get into trouble alone. 

“Fine.”

The teacher led them-thankfully without grabbing them, cause that had made Dean look very scared-to the office and they were told to sit down for a moment while the teacher went to talk to the principal. Dean sat close to Roman on the bench. 

“Thank you.”

“‘s nothing. She was being stupid. You did the right thing.”

Dean was quiet for a minute.

“Everyone keeps pickin’ on me and Cora for being poor.”

“That’s stupid. You guys are poor but you’re both really nice and you’re funny and you’re both real, real smart. I like you guys.”

Roman smiled really big at Dean and Dean smiled back, before leaning on him. Roman just let him. It felt nice. They were called into the principal’s office and Roman didn’t even get a chance to talk before they were told they were each getting three days of after-school detention. Roman was angry, but he didn’t say anything. Grown-ups were stupid and didn’t listen, even when he was right. He and Dean sat back on the bench, waiting for their moms to be called, because apparently their moms were going to be called. 

“Roman?”

“Yes?”

“Do you wanna come over and watch my wrestling videos?”

“I gotta ask my mom.”

“Okay.”

Roman smiled and Dean leaned on him again, and they waited together. Miss Ambrose got there first, and she kneeled down in front of them both. 

“Oh-boys, I was so worried-are you both okay?”

They both nodded. 

“Some boys were pickin’ on Cora, Mom-they were bein’ mean and pushin’ her and I was just tryin’ to help-”

Dean looked really sad and Roman spoke up.

“I saw all of it, they were trying to kick Cora Beth and saying mean things, but the teacher didn’t get them in trouble, but she grabbed Dean really hard and yelled at him even though he was just trying to do good-”

Miss Ambrose looked very strange at that. Roman would say she looked angry, but that didn’t seem like a strong enough word. Her voice was quieter when she spoke. 

“Roman, what did you say?”

He ducked his head down slightly. That’s how his dad sounded when he was really, really mad. 

“Um-she was gonna make him come in here and she grabbed him on his shoulder really hard and...I thought he looked scared, and he didn’t do anything wrong so I told the teacher that and pulled him away so she wouldn’t keep grabbing him like that.”

Miss Ambrose closed her eyes for a minute and took a deep breath. She opened her eyes and gently squeezed Roman’s hand for a moment.

“Thank you for helping, Roman.”

“Boys? What happened?”

Roman looked up at the sound of his mom’s voice and ran up to her, hugging around her legs. 

“I swear me and Dean didn’t do anything-”   
She brought Roman back to the bench and sat next to him. 

“What happened?”

“Apparently-a few boys were picking on Cora and Dean tried to stop them, and Roman saw everything and got in trouble for talking back to the teacher.”

“Where are the boys who were bullying Cora?”

Dean crossed his arms over his chest and Roman frowned.

“The teachers didn’t get them in trouble. They said ‘fighting isn’t the answer’ and only took us.”

Oh, Roman knew the look on his mom’s face well. He did not like that look. He huddled away, closer to Dean. 

“Amorette, I think we need to have a talk with the principal and that teacher.”

“I think you’re very right about that.”

Both of them disappeared into the principal’s office, and Roman and Dean sat together, listening to the loud voices from behind the walls. The secretary looked frightened, but she smiled at the two of them. She came up to Dean and Roman, holding out two mini-candy bars. 

“Here, boys. It’ll take your mind off things.”

“Thank you, Miss Havlin.”

“Thank you.”

She smiled and went back to her desk, and Roman and Dean enjoyed their candy. It did take their minds off of their moms yelling and the fact that they were in trouble.   
It was a long few minutes before their moms came back out, and both of them looked...disheveled, but pleased. The teacher that had gotten Roman and Dean in trouble walked out with her head down, but her face was red. Miss Ambrose kneeled down in front of Dean and hugged him tight. 

“You boys aren’t getting detention anymore.”

“Really?”

“Yes. You didn’t do anything wrong and shouldn’t have been in trouble in the first place.”

Roman grabbed his mom’s hand and tugged on it. 

“Mama, can I go to Dean’s house and watch wrestling?”

“If that’s alright with Amorette, yes, of course.”

Roman looked up at Miss Ambrose.

“Miss Ambrose-”   
“You don’t even have to ask. You’re welcome at our home any time, Roman.”

Miss Ambrose checked Cora Beth out of school too, and one of their classmates brought down their backpacks-Dean was in Roman’s grade, and Roman liked that, because he liked Dean and being around him was fun. They waited for Cora Beth and Roman’s mom walked out with them, hugging him and kissing him all over his face before leaving him with Dean and his family. Cora Beth was quiet and she held onto Dean’s arm the whole ride home. Roman frowned. 

“If people keep picking on you, tell me and my cousins and we’ll make sure they stop.”

Cora Beth sniffled. 

“Jimmy and Jey were real nice to me and once the teachers took you guys inside, they shoved the boys and told them to stop.”

Roman smiled, puffing out his chest a little. He knew he could count on his cousins. 

“‘m sorry you guys got in trouble.”

“Don’t worry about it, honey. Me and Mrs. Reigns took care of it.”

“Are you staying at our house?”

“For a little bit.”

“What are you guys gonna do?”

“I was gonna show Roman my wrestlin’ tapes.”

“Can I watch with you?”

“Yeah.”

Roman felt a little better about the whole thing, and he smiled at Dean, and Dean leaned his head on Roman’s shoulder for the rest of the ride.

\---

“Come ooooonnnnnnnn-I promise they’re all really nice!”

Dean was being ridiculously shy about meeting Roman’s family. He was tugging on Dean’s hand, finally pushing him into the backyard where everyone was talking and getting things ready for the food, and Roman had asked his cousin to bring the title belt so Dean could see it. But now Dean was being shy. 

“I told you they’re nice.”

“I know, but-never met anybody famous…”

Roman frowned. He didn’t really see the big deal. Rodney was just...Rodney, he wasn’t intimidating. None of his family was, and he didn’t really think any of them were ‘famous’. 

“Roman!”

Roman looked up to see his dad and uncle Afa waving at him. He grabbed Dean’s hand and led him over, smiling at his dad. 

“Hi!”

“Hello. Is this your friend your mama keeps saying about?”

“Yes, Dad-this is Dean Ambrose, he’s eight and gonna be nine in December and he’s in my class and he can punch people really good.”

That got a laugh from his dad and uncle and Roman looked at Dean to see that his cheeks were red, and he kept chewing on his sleeve. 

“H-hi…”

“Hello, Dean. Roman says you’re wrestling fan?”

Dean nodded. Roman squeezed his hand. 

“Bret is his favorite too!”

“I heard. Hey uce-”

Dean and Roman both turned to see Rodney making his way over, and Roman smiled really big. He liked when his family was all together. Rodney sat next to Uncle Afa, and Dean’s eyes were huge behind his sleeve. 

“Wow…”

Rodney laughed.

“Thanks. What’s your name?”

Roman nudged Dean. 

“U-um-Dean Ambrose.”

Rodney held his hand out, and Dean put his much, much smaller hand in it.

“Nice to meet you, Dean. Call me Rodney.”

Dean just nodded and went back to standing next to Roman’s side. 

“I was told I have something you might think is pretty cool.”

Roman watched Dean more than he looked at the title belt. He’d seen it before, but he’d never seen someone look as….entranced with it as Dean did. His blue eyes got big and he hesitated before reaching out and touching it, or moreso that Rodney simply handed the belt to him for him to hold. Dean sat on the ground and traced his fingers over the grooves of gold and the smooth black nameplate. Roman watched him, still; Dean wasn’t even saying anything, just...looking at it. It was quite a few minutes before he looked up at Rodney, and at Roman’s Dad and uncle. 

“I wanna be a wrestler.”

That was interesting. Dean hadn’t said as much in the time that they’d hung out-a good two months of friendship so far-and Roman almost believed Dean hadn’t been sure about it until he felt that title in his hands. He looked to his dad and uncle and cousin, and the three of them all looked serious. 

“It’s not an easy life. It’s work, and a lot of hurting, and-”

“I already hurt lots and work hard. I can do it.”

There was a strain of determination in Dean’s usually quiet voice. Roman felt something stir in his own chest, and he nodded, holding his hand out to Dean. The redhead looked up at him. 

“I’ll do it with you. We’ll do it together.”

Dean smiled and took his hand, and Roman helped him stand up. Dean looked at the belt in his hands, and handed it back to Rodney, his back straight and his other hand still in Roman’s. 

“Y-yeah! Me an’ Roman are gonna be wrestlers and learn and we’re gonna have titles like that.”

His family was looking at them like they didn’t believe them, but that just made Roman want to do it more. He was going to be a wrestler, he was going to do it with Dean, and they were both going to be champions. He knew it. 

\---

“Um-Roman?”

“Yeah?”

They were watching a wrestling tape Roman’s dad had brought home, and eating cereal right out of the box. It was quickly becoming Roman’s favorite thing to do, was to watch wrestling with Dean, because he had never met someone who loved it as much as Dean did, and that….kind of made Roman love it more. Dean wasn’t looking at the screen, though, he was nervously playing with a Fruit Loop and looking at his hands. 

“Do you...wanna come over for my birthday?”

“Oh-yeah! Course I do!”

“Really? You want-you really wanna?”

Roman grinned. 

“Yeah! You’re my best friend other than Jimmy and Jey, of course I wanna come-is it gonna be a party or something?”

Dean looked away, and brought his knees up to his chest like he did when he wanted to hide. Roman scooted closer to him. 

“Dean?”

“Not really….we can’t-afford parties like other kids have.”

Roman frowned. 

“Well...who needs parties? You’re as fun as ten people, even twenty people.”

Dean looked at him through his bangs-his hair had grown out a good bit. 

“Thanks. Um-Mom is making cake and dinner though, and we’re gonna watch a movie. And-Mom said you and me could stay up a little late.”

Roman grabbed one of Dean’s hands. It was becoming normal for them, and there was something about it that Roman really liked, and Dean had told him he liked holding hands, too, so he kept doing it. 

“That sounds even better than a party.”

\---

“-and everyone is getting ready for Rumble match-” 

Roman perked up at that. His dad was home, thankfully for a while, and hearing that sparked an idea in Roman’s mind. He waited for his dad to get off the phone and sat next to him at the table. 

“Dad?”

“Yes?”

“Can you do something for me?”

\---

Dean looked so happy blowing out candles. It made Roman happy. 

Dean’s birthday was fun; Roman’s mom had come with them, and so did Jimmy and Jey, though they couldn’t stay the night like Roman was doing. They had to go see their dad before he left for the road again. But it had been a surprise for Dean, along with as many gifts as they could manage, which wasn’t much-Roman’s family wasn’t exactly wealthy either, but they managed, and they all knew that Dean and his family struggled more than they did, and they wanted to help, and his cousins who worked in WWF had sent some things for him, t-shirts and tapes and such. Roman in particular was excited to tell Dean about his gift. 

Also, the food was amazing. Between his mom and Miss Ambrose’s cooking, Roman was stuffing his face properly. 

Jimmy and Jey spent most of the time playing with Cora Beth; they seemed to be building up a friendship, and that was nice. It gave Roman time to spend with Dean. He waited until they were done eating cake and after the physical gifts had been opened, and his mom had taken Jimmy and Jey home. That was the only time it had been quiet that whole day, and he and Dean and Cora Beth were helping to clean up. 

“Dean, I got a present for you too, but-it’s not really here, it’s-um-”

Miss Ambrose and both her children were looking at him, all curious. 

“-um...well….I asked my dad, cause he was talking to my cousins, and-he’s gonna take us to the Royal Rumble next year. If-if you wanna go.”

Roman looked up at Dean to catch sight of his lips wobbling. 

“Wh-wh-really-”

Roman nodded. 

“Yeah. I never had a friend who liked wrestling before so I never got to go to shows with-well Jimmy and Jey are my friends, but they’re also related, so-but-I wanna go with you. Cause we’re gonna be wrestlers someday, and-Dean?”

Tears were streaming down his cheeks and he hurled himself at Roman, crying and tangling his small fists in Roman’s shirt. Roman just hugged him. He didn’t really know what else to do. He heard Miss Ambrose sniffle and saw her wiping at his eyes. Cora Beth was sneaking a piece of cake during the commotion. 

“Uh-thank you, for that, Roman-I think Dean is excited about that.”

“Um-yeah, I-I’m excited too.”

“Where-I’ll talk to your dad next time he’s around about-travel and all of that.”

Dean still had his hands gripping Roman’s shirt tight and he mumbled something against his chest.

“I couldn’t hear you-”

“Y-you’re not-you’re not playin’ around right-this isn’t a joke?”

“Why would I joke about it? It’s happening in Tampa and Dad is gonna be backstage and I asked him if he could take us.”

Dean sniffled and Miss Ambrose came over to the two of them, kneeling down and letting Dean hug her. 

“At...the last school he went to, there were some kids who-well-they told Dean that they would come to his birthday and...didn’t.”

Roman felt angry at that. 

“Well those kids are stupid, cause Dean is really really nice and I like him and people shouldn’t be stupid to him.”

Miss Ambrose laughed and hugged Roman to her as well, laughing still, but in a way that sounded like she might be crying. 

“God-that’s very sweet, Roman.”

She stood and Dean wiped his face with his hands, and he looked like he was trying to not cry. 

“Boys, why don’t you go get the pillows and everything set up in the living room? Cora Beth, it’s just about bedtime.”

Cora had frosting on her face. 

“Okay.”

Roman and Dean were sleeping on the pull-out couch, and they had lots of pillows and blankets piled on top of it, and Dean got one of the tapes playing while Roman wrapped himself up in one of the blankets. Dean got in the bed next to him, holding his Bret Hart figure close. He reached out and grabbed Roman’s hand, holding it tight. 

“You-you really really mean it? ‘Bout the Rumble?”

“Yeah. Dad said you could meet everybody, too.”

Dean squeezed his hand a lot tighter.

“When-when we grow up, and start wrestlin’-I bet you’re gonna win the Royal Rumble.”

“So will you! And then you’re gonna beat somebody real big and strong and be champion and it’ll be really cool.”

Roman moved closer to Dean, and they stayed like that until they fell asleep, to the sounds of crowds and commentators and the thing they loved together.

\---

The Rumble was amazing, of course. Roman loved it, like he always loved the Rumbles and big events, but nothing he’d ever gone to really compared to the look on Dean’s face when he met Bret. 

Bret was a nice guy, he always had been kind and patient with Roman and the other kids of wrestlers, and Dean had been...enamored. It was cute, he’d stared up at Bret with huge eyes and nodded along and quietly answered Bret’s questions and he’d held on so, so tight when Bret had offered to hug him. Kevin had said hello to them too, gently ruffling Roman’s hair in passing. Roman thought a lot about Dean that night, about his reactions and how he’d watched every match so intently, completely taken with the sport. Roman had never really wanted to be a wrestler, but being around Dean and seeing his love for it...it made Roman think. 

It was a six-hour drive from Tampa back home, and Roman and Dean cuddled up in the backseat, falling asleep quickly and only waking when Sika stopped for bathroom breaks. Roman didn’t remember a lot about the drive, except for his dad carrying both of them into the house when they got home and putting them in Roman’s bed. 

It was the best night of Roman’s life up to that point. 

\---


End file.
